


Fighting Fires

by the_overlord



Series: Comfort [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Family Feels, M/M, and bonding, except nothing like THAT, just awkward conversation, the morning after
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 03:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1925520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_overlord/pseuds/the_overlord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Maternal Memories</p><p>Stiles gets an interesting phone call when he wakes up alone. And, yep. That's definitely not his phone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fighting Fires

**Author's Note:**

> This was found in the depths of my archives so it's REALLY not up to date. I think I wrote this after Season 2 so yeah, pretty old and behind the times, but hey, maybe you'll still like it.

Stiles woke the next morning to the shrill sound of his ringtone. He rolled over and buried his face into his pillow but the phone just carried on ringing.

And ringing.

And ringing.

And oh _god_ , could he not get some peace?

Without looking up he rifled around on his bedside table until he felt the cool press of his phone against his palm. He clicked what he supposed was the answer button and pushed the phone to his ear, muttering a groggy and slightly pissed off greeting. The phone continued to ring. Confused he rolled onto his back and pulled his phone away from his ear. The screen was black, and yet the ringing persisted.

Now that he was more awake he noted that the ring tone wasn’t even his ringtone, which was the Spiderman theme tune from the cartoon he’d watched religiously every morning of his childhood, the music permeating the room was darker and more jazzy. Definitely not his.

Reluctantly awake, Stiles rolled from the sheets, pausing to unhook his feet when he got trapped, and hunted down the source. At one point the phone has stopped trilling, but it had taken mere seconds for the music to start back up, and so Stiles had managed to track it to a dark crevice under his bed. Pulling it out he accepted the call and held the phone to his ear.

‘Hello?’

‘Stiles?’

‘Derek’

‘Yeah. Why do you have my phone?’

Ah, so it was Derek’s phone. He hadn’t really been aware that Derek even owned a phone, but apparently he did, as evidenced by the frankly fancy mobile he was holding. Even the casing felt expensive.

‘I guess you left it here last night. Do you want me to bring it round, or do you want to come here and get it..?’

There was a prolonged silence on the line, and Stiles would have thought that Derek had hung up except he could hear him breathing every now and then and the rustle of clothes as he moved. Stiles wasn’t really sure what to do with the silence so he did what he did best, he talked.

‘I mean if you don’t like either of those options then I could always mail it, or give it to one of the pack, or, I don’t know, bury it and leave you a treasure map to find it. Feel free to stop me whenever I reach a solution you are comfortable with, because I think we both know I could carry on talking all day long, all night too if you’d let me, although I’d probably have to break to rehydrate because talking can give you a really dry mouth. But hey, you probably don’t know much about that do you seeing as you talk in grunts and monosyllables most of the time - ’

‘ _Stiles._ ’

He smiled.

‘Yes grumpy.’

‘Is your dad in?’

What? That was random. Why would he care if the Sheriff was in? Unless… Was Derek going to try to kill him? He played over the conversation in his head but he came up blank as to possible motives for murder. Unless he was worried that Stiles would spill his deep, dark secret. The fact that the unapproachable, angst ridden, broody, broken werewolf, was actually a sweet, cuddly, companionable puppy. Oh god. He was a total goner. Goodbye cruel world and all that jazz.

‘Um, yes? I mean, yes, yes he is in. All day. Always.’

‘You're lying. Badly. Why are you lying?’

‘Because I’m too pretty to die so young?’

A beat.

‘Die? What are you talking about? Are you being threatened? By who? Stiles, you have to tell me if you’re being threatened.’

The demanding growl rang through so loudly Stiles had to wince and pull the phone from his ear. Derek sounded so ridiculously panicked that Stiles actually felt a swell of affection towards that wolf. He hoped this new side of Derek persisted, he could see them getting along great with less of the threats and wall slamming.

‘Relax dude, no one’s threatening me this week, I just thought that maybe _you_ wanted to kill me and so I said that my dad was in to deter you somewhat. That’s it. So chill.’

‘Me? Why the hell would I want to kill you?’

Stiles was very aware that his next words were likely to buy him a suspicious death regardless of Derek’s earlier plans, but he persevered because he was a suicidal idiot talking to a living, breathing lie detector.

‘Because I know your secret. And I am likely to spread said secret around and then everyone will know that you're a big fluffy teddy bear who acts tough but likes to cuddle and comfort crying teenagers.’

‘Stiles I don’t give a shit if you tell people I’m _nice_. To be honest, my reputation is piss poor amongst most of polite society these days, so please, go ahead, spread the word. If you do maybe people will stop crossing the street when they see me.’

Stiles chuckled and marvelled at Derek’s loquaciousness. It was so unexpected and pleasant, and Stiles found himself drawn to it more than he should have been. It just felt oddly natural to banter with Derek. Oh wow, he was _bantering_ with Derek. Derek Hale could _banter_.

‘So, if you don’t want to kill me - ’

‘I don’t.’

‘As I said, if you don’t want to kill me, then why do you want to know if my dad is in? Which he is not, by the by.’

‘Well I was going to come round and collect my phone if that’s alright with you.’

And that made a lot more sense than the murder plot that Stiles had concocted. Well no one could accuse him of having no imagination.

‘Ok, that’s fine. But I suggested that, why did you pause so ominously when I did?’

Derek sighed deeply and Stiles shivered at the sound. And then frowned, because Stiles was loathe to become _that_ kind of person. He was a strong independent woman. _Man_. A strong independent _man_.

‘I was thinking about bringing something with me.’

‘What?’

‘A photo album.’

‘A photo album?’

‘Of my family. Before the fire.’

Oh. Well that was unexpected. He hadn’t even been aware Derek _had_ any pictures from before the fire. And the fact that he wanted to show them to Stiles was kind of mind boggling. And flattering. And awesome.

‘Why?’

‘You showed me yours.’

He ignored the innuendo pulsing in his brain.

‘Doesn’t mean you owe me anything. In fact I’m pretty sure I owe you. You helped me deal last night. It meant a lot.’

Stiles was frustrated that he couldn’t find the words to thank Derek properly. What Derek had done for him the night before had been above and beyond the call of their relationship. He’d stepped up and done a bloody good job of it. And he had a feeling Derek didn’t get a lot of gratitude in his life. Stiles vowed to make him cookies as a thank you. Big ones, with tons of chocolate chips.

And Scott would get none.

There was a chance he was a little pissed at being blown off.

‘I know I don’t have to. I – I _want_ to.’

Stiles’ heart beat a little faster.

‘Then I would love to see them. Come round whenever, I’m in all day.’

‘Ok.’

The call disconnected and Stiles smiled at the lack of farewell. Derek really was a socially awkward puppy. A strangely sweet one though. Who wanted to share with Stiles the remnants of his family legacy with Stiles. Because Stiles was awesome. And they were friends.

Stiles ignored his sweating palms and flushed cheeks and went to have a shower to cool off.

He was probably a little screwed.


End file.
